No abstract

The ability to overcome obstacles is necessary for field robots for various applications including the ability to climb stairs. While much research has been performed focusing on overcoming obstacles, the resulting robots do not have sufficient ability to overcome obstacles such as stairs. In this research, the purpose is to overcome relatively large obstacles by flipping locomotion through the modification of the stair climbing robotic platform of the previous research. We propose two scenarios to overcome large obstacles: a rear wheel driving system and an elevation system using a ball screw. The research is performed based on static analyses on obstacleclimbing. As the simulation results indicate, we determined the optimal posture of the robot for climbing obstacles for rear wheel driving. Also, an elevation system is analyzed for obstacle climbing. Between the two scenarios an elevation system is determined to reduce the operating torque of the actuator, and the prototype was recently assembled. The climbing ability of the robotic platform is verified. We expect the application area for this robotic platform will be in accident areas of nuclear power plants.Keywords: static analysis, field robot, field robot platform, overcoming large obstacle, prototype

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article history:This paper presents the results of a study on the optimal footpad design for vertical climbing on acrylic surfaces with various curvatures used Taguchi methods. For a climbing robot, the adhesion system plays an important role in the climbing process. Only an appropriate adhesion strength will prevent the robot from falling and allow it to climb normally. Therefore, the footpad is a significant parameter for a climbing robot and should be studied. Taguchi methods were used to obtain a robust optimal design, where the design variables were the flat tacky elastomeric shape, area, thickness, and foam thickness of the footpad. Experiments were conducted using acrylic surfaces with various curvatures. An optimized footpad was selected based on the results of the experiments and analysis, and the stability of the wall-climbing robot was verified.